Situation in constructions not as bad as two years ago, Minister

The European crisis has reached Moldova; however, the increase in constructions is a significant one, of 9% since the beginning of the year, stated Minister of Regional Development and Constructions Marcel Raducan, reports Info-Prim Neo. The Minister added that in the last month alone 109 requests to commence constructions were filed. When asked whether the reports that constructions level have fallen in half relative to its years of continuous development, Marcel Raducan said that it is not true. “It is not true that constructions have diminished by 50%. Some companies have frozen their works, but many others have started theirs”, said the official. The Minister furher mentioned that the current situation of the construction sector is not the one he desires, but it is not as bad as two years ago, or even last year. “Everything is relative, we have much work to do, the situation is not as good as we would like it to be, but it is not very bad either”, said Marcel Raducan. When asked why the situation had reached the point where hundreds of people have paid construction firms for apartments, but haven’t gotten them, the Minister said that it is an older story and is a consequence of the fact that citizens didn’t realize that by investing money into a construction firm they should organize all their paperwork, by signing contracts and registering with all relevant institutions, such as the Cadaster, in order to have the legal right to demand the firm to meet its obligations. According to data from the Ministry of Regional Development and Constructions, since August 2011 till March 2012, around 4,000 housing units have been built.